Metallic-backed printing-plate



E. E. NOVOTNY.

METALLIC BACKED PRINTING PLA-TE.

APPLICATION FILED Dems. Isle.

1,377,506. Patented May 10, 1921.

5 wozu/Coz,

UNITED ySTATES PATENT ol-F I cj'z'la'..Y v-

EMIL E. NOVOTNY, F lRIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNB T0 J'.

- .MOORESTOWN NEW JERSEY.

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l METALLIC-:SACRED Pnmrmdfrnarn :Application :tiled December 13', 1916. Serial lo.' 136,673.

To allwhomtmag/ come'm:

Be it known that I, EMIL E. Novo'rNr, a

\ citizen of the United States, and resident of Riverside, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lMetallic-Backed Printing-Plates, of which the following is a s ecication.

his invention relates to printing plates such as are used on presses for the purposes of embossing or printing, and has particular application to a plate of this character which is so constructed as to enable it to be positively, quickly and conveniently secured in proper position or location upon the press thereby insuring accurate registration relative to the sheets during the printing operation.

The present invention is appllcable to both fiat plates, such as are used in connection with bed and platen printing presses,

and to lcurved or cylindrical plates, such as are employed in rotary presses, and in the preferred form of the invention illust-rated herein the printing face of the plate is made from a phenolic condensation product of which there are several well known varieties, such as condensite, bakelite and the like.

As is well known, commercial condensite and bakelite will assume a hardened, set and infusible form when subjected to heat at a tempera-ture of from 250 to 400 degrees F. for example, these products charring or decomposing at about 550 F., so that the actual working temperature is about 350.

It is my purpose in the present instance to provide .a printing plate of composite construction, that is to say, embodying a printing face comprising a face section and a backing therefor, the backing being preferably united to the printing face section of the plate during the molding or casting of the latter, such backing section being equipped with means by which i-t, and consequently the complete composite plate, may be readily, conveniently and firmly fastened to a saddle carried by .the cylinder or bed of the press,- or may, if desired, be fastened directly to suchcylinder or bed, that is' 'to say, may be used without employ- 'infr the intervening saddle.

ith the above recited iobj ects and others of a similar nature in view, my invention consists in the construction,l combination andarrangement of parts set forth in and fallmg wlthin the scope of the appended claims. f

In the drawings: 'Figure 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken through a segment or portion of a cylinder or printing press equipped with l a saddle to which-is plate.

Fig. 2 is a attached my improved similar view, but taken through a'cyllnder wired to be magnetized the inter-` posed saddle being dispensed with and they. I

plate held directly against the `cylinder by ma etlsm.

1g. 3 is -a cross sectionall view of the plate shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. l 1s a cross sectional view .taken through one form of .a flat plate embodying my invention.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken trplugh a modified form of backing sheet or s e f' Y Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken through a modified form of fiat printing plate.

Referring now to the .accompanying drawings in detail; and particularly to Figs.

l and 3, the numeral 1 indicates a portion of a press ycylinder to which is bolted the curved or segmental saddle 2, suitable bolts 3 bemg provided for. this purpose; This saddle 2 is in the nature of a curved plate of. any suitable material and is formed with I i a series 'of small sockets or depressions 4 in lts upper face, these sockets being preferably arranged in rows and spaced predetermined dlstances apart. Opening through and into each socket is a screw bore 5 which `also opens through 'the backface of the saddle, the.'end of the bore opening into the socket-being reduced or tapered as at 6 to snugly receive the head of the screw 7 the shank of which when such screw is in place projects through the sockets and is intended to be screwed into an adjacent boss on the backing section of a printing plate, as hereinafter described,

The curved printing plate shown in Fig. 3 in the present instance comprises a face sheet 8 having an impression-producin or printing surface '9 formed thereon. facing sheet, or section 8 voi the plate, is preferably molded or cast from a phenolic condensation product, such as condensite,"

11 spaced suitable distances apart, in actualA practice the spacing being the same as the spacing o f the sockets or depressions of the saddle, and each of these bosses is formed with a threaded socket 12 to receive the shank of one of the screws 7. Furthermore, be-

tween 'the bosses, the plate has formed, in the present instance, a suitable number of apertures or openings 13, the walls of which diverge relatively 'to each other to forma dove-tail member or anchoring means for the correspondingly shaped or dove-tailed lugs 14, which are formed on the facing sheet, or section 8 of the plate in the casting of the plate.

In the manufacture of the plate shown in Fig. 3 the matrix or mold from which the printing face or section of the plate is formed is first placed in a suitable casting box and a body of the material, such as the phenolic condensation product is then supplied to the mold. Upon this sheet or body of phenolic condensation product is placed the backing plate 10 and the casting box is then closed, andheat and pressure, or heat, pressure and cooling applied to cause the molding of the facing section 8 of the plate and the anchorin of the latter in the backing section 10. f-course suitable sockets or depressions in the upper platen of the casting box will accommodate the bosses onthe back of the backing section or sheet 10 during the casting operation. When theplate has been com letely cast as just described, or has set to t e requisite hardness it may be removed from the castin box and may now be fastened to the sa dle, andto the press when desired for use, as shown in Fig. 1, and as hereinafter described.

If desired, instead of resortingto the use of the intermediate saddle to which the late is fastened, and which saddlein turn is bolted to the press cylinder, I may make use of the modi ed form shown in Fi' 2. In this Vcase I dispense with the use o the saddle, but the cylinder 15 is magnetized through suitable electromagnetic means illustrated conventionally at 16, wherein I have shown wires extending longitudinally of grooves 17 cut in the inner face of the cylinder, and in this instance lin order to fasten the printing plate tothe cylinder, it is only necessary to center the bored bosses 18 of the backing sheet or section of the plate on the studs or pins 19 projecting from the cylinderface, the rinting plate itself being positively and rmly held in place against the cylinder by magnetic action and is also held against shifting by the pins 19 seating in the sockets 18.

In Fig. 4 I have shown my invention asl embodied in a fiat, instead of a curved plate, in this instance the facing or impression producing section 8nof the plate being -iat to correspond to the backing 10 thereof.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a furthermodi lied form of backing sheet or section 10a which is preferably though not necessarily in the nature of a metallic sheet and may be stamped from a single piece of metal to form the bosses 12', each of which is provided with a screw bore 11'; this plate is also formed with the dovetailed openings 13 intended to anchor the similarlyfshaped lugs formed on the back of the facing section of the printing plate.

In Fig. 6 the facing or printing section 8a of the plate'is cemented or united to the backing plate 10b through zthe agency of a suitable binding material, and in this instance the backing 10" may also be of metal or other suitable material, and when the vplate is applied to the press it is held in position by suitable plate clamps well known in the art. f

I am aware ofthe fact that it has hitherto been proposed to make a printing plate comprising a cementitious or plastic printing vface imposed upon a relatively hard, nonflowing backing as exem lified, for instance, in the patent to Michael mith 1,093,015. In said patent however the printing face layer or sheet is composed of a permanently fusible substance which will always become soft and plastic at a relatively low temperature of say 200 F. .I am also aware of the fact that it has been proposed to impose a printing face sheet'or layer of fusible, plastic phe- 'nolic material upon a backing layer composed of Aa fusible plastic phenolic substance as -set forth in the patent to Jonas W. Aylsworth 1,098,610, these two layers or sheets of phenolic material being then subjected to heat and pressure simultaneously in the molding of the complete printing plate until both layers assume a hardened, set and infusible form.

In instances where a permanently fusible facing is imposed upon a hard, non-fiow'mg back, and which facing always resumes its plastic condition at a relatively low temperature, a successful commercial printing plate cannot be produced because the facing surface has a tendency to warp, and to` soften and rapidly break down and wear out. Furthermore it is practically impossible to use such a plate in making stereotypes, because the facing will not withstand the degree of heat necessary in the reproduction and drying of the stereotype matrix thereon. On the Vother hand where theplate is made of a phenolic facing and a phenolic backing both will tend to destroy, ih fact does destroy the type levels and outlines and half-tone dots instead of giving the sharp, clean cut, square and well defined characteristics so essential for high grade printing. In a word, a phenolic platemade by pressing 'thesoft phenolic facing sheet against a soft puttylike phenolic backing is practically worthless as it is impossible to lproduce the proper type face owing to the spreading, oozing, displacing and yieldabilityA of the material of the backing at the time of molding the face.

As contra-distinguished from such prior plates and methods vof makingthe same it will Abe noted, that as hereinbefore mentioned, I prepare myl perforated backing sheet, layer or section previous or prior to the operation of moldng the printing face thereon so that when the backingis placed in the plate molding press it Aisin the form of a perforated, hard, comparatively rigid, nonflowing substance, sheet metal for example l as shown in Fig-'5.A l.The fusing or melting point lof sheet metal 1s,'a`s is well known, up-

ward of 2000o F., therefore ffar'in excess of the working.temperature ofl such phenolic compositlons as bakelite and condensite. Naturally my backing must beof sucha character as to remain hard, stable and nonflowingv under the molding of the printing plate, as otherwise the spreading.; of the ma- 'terial of the back would result in the destruction, distortion or in some instancesthe complete closing of theagichormg apertures andholes and consequently make it iniplossible to successfully construct the plate.

united. A

us I `pro- L vide a previously prepared non-flowing backf' ing, of metal for instance, which is not subject to side flow or distortion under pressure and by means of such backing I obtain a direct and4 rigid pressure against the phenolic facing, forcing the latter rmly and closely against the molding face of the matrix and therefore insure sharp, clean cut, square and well defined printing characteristics on the face of the plate.

lWhile I have herein shown and describedA certain preferred embodiments of my invention I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to all the precise details of construction set forth by way-,of illustration, as modification and variation may be made -without departing `from the spirit of the nlvention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is; l. A composite printing plate having a face section of hard phenolic material and a backing section therefor of non-phenolic material, and means, including complemental projections vand projection-receiving openings, for permanently uniting the printing face section with the backing section.

2. A composite printing plate comprising a printing face section of hard infusible `phenolic material having depending projections of similar material formed integral with the underside thereof, and a backing section of non-flowing materiall having spaced o enings therein adaptedvto receive and-be lled by the projections of theprinting face section whereby 3. A composite printing plate comprising a printing face section of a hard and set phenolic material, a metallic backing section, and means for permanently uniting the face section with the back section.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 8th dayofDecember, A. D. 1916.

EMIL E. NovorNY.

Asaid sections are permanently v 

